1. The All-Star game format works … so leave it alone
A real secret to life is knowing when enough is enough; understanding when to appreciate what you have and leave it the heck alone.
Let’s hope MLS stays with the current All-Star format, where the league’s best faces a rotation of popular clubs from elsewhere, a unique design that has put a fresh coat of paint on an American institution (all-star games) that is mostly in decline. In terms of popular appeal and cultural heft, professional all-star games have gone the way of network TV: we still have ‘em, but we have a lot more entertainment options now, and the glory days are not coming back.
But MLS smartly exploits its advantage over baseball, basketball, etc., by drawing these attractive, brand-name competition from lands afar. That puts a different twist on these events, especially as MLS continues to establish (and improve) its place relative to other leagues around the globe.
That’s why it’s disappointing that the idea of bringing back the old East-West format just won’t die. Tuesday, Clint Dempsey resurrected this hard-to-kill zombie once again. Someone always does.
Dempsey is among the league All-Stars currently in Commerce City, just outside Denver, where the MLS best will take on England’s Tottenham on Wednesday night. Even if this is Tottenham – a mid-level English side rather than a global power like Bayern Munich or Chelsea, among the list of opponents past – it’s a better event for the juicy foreign flavor.
Some of the past MLS All-Star events were “all-star” in name only. That is, there weren’t 30-40 truly worthy All-Stars (the number it would take to form two teams in the old East-West format.) True, there are far more All-Star-worthy types today. So finding 30-40 isn’t the colossal stretch it was 15 years ago, but it’s still a stretch.
In the current set-up, being selected really means something; it would mean exactly half as much in a return to old East-West format.
All due respect to Dempsey, but the trouble with active players influencing larger league policy is that they see things from just one perspective (the players’ perspective), so they sometimes miss the bigger picture.
Leave it alone, guys. The All-Star game isn’t perfect. But it works on a bunch of levels. At the very least, it doesn’t look as stale as some of the others.
2. Cyle Larin has one hand (and four fingers) on Rookie of the Year trophy
WATCH: Larin dominates NYCFC
Anybody happen to have a big stamp that says “Done!” ? I need to borrow it. I have a “2015 Rookie of the Year” file that needs stamping.
That bad boy is going to Orlando City’s Cyle Larin, who was named MLS Player of the Week after his showy hat trick last week against NYCFC. The No. 1 overall pick in January has nine goals in 15 appearances for the Lions, which means he is well on track to break Damani Ralph’s MLS rookie record of 11 goals (Chicago, 2003). FCD’s Tesho Akindele walked with the league’s top rookie award last year with seven goals.
Also consider this: when potential RoYs grab headlines with flashy doings, it generates a big surge in polls, so to speak. When they do it on national TV against a major market team, that’s like nailing a triple-word score.
There are other MLS rookies making worthwhile contributions. It’s easy to see Chicago’s Matt Polster, Kansas City’s Amadou Dia, Colorado’s Axel Sjoberg, San Jose’s Fatai Alashe and other talented rookies having something to say in league matters for years to come. But they are just tapping away at things with a little rubber mallet; Larin is swinging a big hammer.
3. Jurgen Klinsmann, meet Benny Feilhaber. You’re welcome
In some ways, we can sum up what ails the United States national team in two “words:” Benny Feilhaber.
Make that, “Benny Feilhaber!”
That’s how you’d say it to Jurgen Klismann if the U.S. manager were to ask your opinion of how to get this clunky train back on track.
Klinsmann has done a lot to improve the overall national team scene. That’s probably not a popular opinion right now, but you have to give him credit where due. His effort to push individuals from their comfort zone, to push the program from its comfort zone, plus his efforts to work the outer limits of the player pool in optimizing options, will pay future dividends.
That doesn’t mean he is without blind spots. That’s where Feilhaber comes in.
The Sporting Kansas City man has been in Cracker Jack form all year for Sporting Kansas City, which is a big reason why Peter Vermes’ men are quietly the league’s second-best team by points per game. (Kansas City’s 1.74 is second only to Dallas’ 1.81.)
Feilhaber keeps delivering the goods in what will easily be the central midfielder’s top MLS season. It’s not just the flashy numbers (7 goals, 10 assists in 19 league matches) or his general influence as SKC weaves nimbly through two competitions. (The 30-year-old Californian played a big role as Sporting KC moved past Houston in the recent US Open Cup quarterfinals.)
He is scoring some absolutely sensational goals, too! Have a look at last week’s military grade accuracy against Real Salt Lake. (Be sure to see Jeff Attinella’s face, as RSL’s goalkeeper is clearly asking himself, “Well, what am I supposed to do against that?”)
If it weren’t for Sebastian Giovinco’s outrageous rampage through MLS over the last couple of months, everybody would be banging the Feilhaber drum for MVP. (Some are anyway; respected MLSSoccer.com colleague Matthew Doyle makes a compelling case for Feilhaber, backed by some terrific number crunching, inside this piece.)
The U.S. problem isn’t about Feilhaber per se; it’s what Feilhaber’s continued estrangement says about Klimsmann’s player policies.
Klinsmann seems to make up his mind on certain guys – and that’s it. The backup lights just don’t seem to work well on his German SUV. And to be fair, the rap on Feilhaber is that he hasn’t always been the best teammate. An MLS official once described for me like this: “Benny’s going to do what you ask, but he might let you know that he’s not happy about it.”
But people can grow and change, and Feilhaber’s consistency this year suggests a more mature figure. Plus, clearly, Klinsmann’s side needs a kick start. Or a kick in the butt. Or something. We all saw a Gold Cup performance that, in its entirety, fell somewhere between “underwhelming” and “outright alarming.”
There is a fine line for coaches between faith in your methodologies and potentially damaging recalcitrance. There may have been a time when folding Feilhaber back into the national team mix was a risk. But as Feilhaber has reached the zenith of his game, and as the national team looks a bit stale, it seems the risk-reward equation has shifted toward the Kansas City man’s favor.
4. What was important in last week’s World Cup draw
Two things to know about last Saturday in international soccer (that didn’t involve the United States loss to Panama for, ahem, Gold Cup third place): First, it was a big mile marker for Russia to pass.
Nobody really ever thought Russia would have World Cup 2018 stripped, even as the world media continued dragging FIFA and its tainted processes out of the mud and into the sunlight; the odds always seemed higher that a relocation bandwagon would roll heavy for Qatar 2022. Still, contempt is high for FIFA, so who knows?
With the unfolding of last week’s World Cup draw, Russia now seems even more safely locked in as hosts. The groups are now arranged, and once qualifying begins it would be nearly impossible to fold Russia (automatic qualifiers as hosts) into the mix. Barring something so awful as all-out war or geopolitics on the brink, and despite the country’s ongoing market struggles, Russia will host 2018.
The United States got a cushy fourth round draw – such a picnic [or maybe a day at the beach is a better metaphor] that it’s hardly worth going into here. They’ll be tested, but not until the final round.
But Canada. Oh, Canada! I keep saying that in our part of the planet, World Cup qualifying will be more interesting if Canada can finally get itself together and make a legitimate stand. Well, that’s less likely now.
Grouped with Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico, our neighbors to the north will be pressed to escape the 4th round – which makes a 5th round set of home-and-away with Canada less likely. And that gives me sad World Cup qualifying face.
5. The Little Five
5a. Who couldn’t love the Javier Morales story of 2015? The RSL man looks absolutely timeless. He had healthy numbers as a 33-year-old back in 2013. Those figures climbed last year (9 goals, 12 assists) and he’s on pace to do as well or better this year. RSL continues to struggle with transition, but not Morales. Still, it’s not the most ageless performance in MLS history. Hardly so, in fact. Preki was 40 when he won a second league MVP.
5b. Don’t underestimate the value of singular focus on one competition. Seattle, Los Angeles, Vancouver and D.C. United all have four additional matches over the next two months in CONCACAF Champions League. Travel, plus the added risk of injury, can tip the balance in playoff positioning and for Supporters Shield.
5c. Feel free to name Mike Grella as your captain for the MLS Underrated Team of 2015. His “mixtape” is here for your enjoyment.
5d. I know Colorado’s Sam Cronin as an All-Star turns some people inside out. It kinda does for me, too. But we often see late-breaking positional needs filled locally, by the Colorado Rapids in this case. (Because it’s difficult yank more deserving players out of training back home and ask them to fly across the country and then quickly back again for 20-30 minutes in an exhibition.) That’s why Portland’s Liam Ridgewell was a late add-on last year, why Michael Farfan was an 11th-hour All-Star in 2012, etc. So don’t beat up All-Star and Rapids manager Pablo Mastroeni too much for this one.
5e. Young goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez’s stand-up-and-applaud performance in Tuesday’s 2015 Chipotle Homegrown Game confirms once again that no MLS team has greater ‘keeper depth than FC Dallas. Chris Seitz has been a dependable starter when called on over two seasons. He would be starting now but for the presence of former MLS All-Star Dan Kennedy, who has allowed just two goals in his last five matches. Gonzalez is clearly emerging, as well, and will soon be a candidate to push for first-team minutes (if he isn’t already).
Steve Davis has covered Major League Soccer since is first kick in 1996. He writes on-line for World Soccer Talk and Fusion TV’s Soccergods, and co-hosts the weekly radio show/podcast ESPN Soccer Today on 103.3 FM in Dallas. Davis is also the radio play-by-play voice for FC Dallas on 100.7 FM.
